A Different Use of Literacy: The 1676 Witchcraft Allegations against A. S. Matveev

No metrics data to plot.

The attempt to load metrics for this article has failed.

The attempt to plot a graph for these metrics has failed.

The full text of this article is not currently available.

Brill’s MyBook program is exclusively available on
BrillOnline Books and Journals. Students and scholars affiliated with an
institution that has purchased a Brill E-Book on the BrillOnline platform
automatically have access to the MyBook option for the title(s) acquired by the
Library. Brill MyBook is a print-on-demand paperback copy which is sold at a
favorably uniform low price.

Analyzing the case of black magic brought against chancellor Artemon Matveev in 1676-77, this paper endeavors to demonstrate that Matveev’s accusers were controlled by his political opponents. The proceedings are revealing in yet another respect: they involve a number of minor clerks and educated slaves – Muscovite middle class in embryo. The minutes give a vivid picture of the way magical texts were circulated among them, and contribute to outline the standard library of literate witchcraft in seventeenth-century Muscovy.